It’s been a while since we posted here but we haven’t been too far away. Collectively we have been developing our ideas engaging with people in real life & via our new Social media presence (which you can find here & here). In these past few weeks you wont believe the discoveries that we have made & the developments to our overall concepts, although we still retain the same underlying ethos of enlightenment. In the process of running into new people & attempting to curate all of the web into concise & enlightened posts for people to enjoy, one thing has become startlingly clear, in order for us & our concepts to stand the test of time we have to thoroughly enjoy the process we are undergoing rather than doing something in the hope that it will be rewarded by external validations. This is similar to the ideas of Alfie Kohn’s punished by rewards concept.

This realization has resulted in a less anxious approach to the way we share content & how we engage with people. Hopefully this will ensure the quality of our posts & engagements are never compromised & retained at a high level of excellence :-). With this in mind you can expect to see even more mind shifting posts coming from: Curatious, Aldous Huxley & Bertie Russ.

A BIG Thank you for all those who have reached out to us & said hello, we are most definitely in this for the long run & hope to make even more enlightened connections & discoveries along the way.

The alarm rings & its time for me to get up & get ready for work once again. I wish I could get a few more hours sleep & actually taste my breakfast for once, rather than having to waffle it all down in a bid to beat the morning rush. But then I snap out my wishful thinking & remind my self that they are millions of people around the world with working days just like mine. Who am I to bitch & complain about working for a living I should be grateful right? Well is it really wishful thinking for me to expect the majority of my life to be spent on something I am actually passionate about & contributes positively to society? After-all time is the only real commodity I have, once its gone, its gone.

Thinking back to my younger days where the luxuries of food & shelter was a given & all that you worried about was what new discoveries will be made in the garden, park or if your lucky museum. So what inspired me to go running through the bushes, read up on far & varied topics from outer space to the adventures of Alasdair Gray books, way before money was an incentive & when did it all change. It seems that a clear shift in attitude occurred when your asked as a child “What do want to be when you’re older” this implies you need to pick a field & stay in it.

For a child exploring the world that seems very confining, to stay in one field of interest. However in order to continue living your told “you need to find something that pays & whatever time you have left you can spend on your interests”. Is this really still necessary in the 21st century, surely the most beneficial thing for the broader public health is for people to get up every morning with an appetite for new discoveries & pass on this enthusiasm on to the people they engage with. Similar to the infectious nature of a curious kids need for exploration.

Anyone who has ever engaged with the process of creating or experiencing, a piece of creative expression (which is pretty much everyone) can testify to the relief it provides from everyday worrying. Whether visually, sonically or a combination of both creative expressions have long been the relatively inexpensive method of self therapy & for that reason this week I will keep the gibbering to a minimum & with the enlisted help of a Soul Keita’s mix (link Above) express the wonders that cant be expressed with mere words. Take a listen & be the judge for yourself…

Trance Like City Life (Photograph from Rouges foam Vapor wave mix, edited by Enlightened~Allure)

Once upon a time a hippie said: “the day is slowly approaching when we will all be free to pursuit careers we are passionate about without the worry of illusory monetary gain to survive, there will be no wars & everything is freely available to everyone” & in response to that a respectable member of our civilized society said “you’ve go to be kidding me right? That’s totally ridiculous, humanity has always fought & competed with each other. Its Human nature”

& as an observer watching this game we call a ‘civilized society’ unfold before my eyes, I couldn’t help but break out in laughter at our limited capacity to think outside of our societal norms. This isn’t restricted to our society but has been a reoccurring theme in history. If you could imagine explaining our current society to hunter gathers form the past they would probably think you’re from another planet. Now if you take a slightly bigger step out of the cluster phobic box of we call modern day reasoning & imagine you are visited by a person from the (hopefully:-)) more advance future, do you think you will be able to justify the hysterical practices we currently take for granted.

For instance take the fact that due to an outdated game we constructed for ourselves centuries ago our world is in debt to each other (& suffering as a result), while at the same time we have more than enough technological knowledge & resources to ensure the prospering of humanity as a whole.

Now with all that considered you can be certain that a visitor form the future would have one thing to say in response to our current societal structure “You’ve got to be Kidding me right?”

It’s now been approximately 4 weeks since we decided to invite the global community along on our journey of enlightenment. A journey, which has been months in the making & is starting to feel like a step in the right direction. There has already been meaningful engagements with other bloggers making strides in their on respectful fields, who have naturally gravitated to the ethos & content on our site. To be specific we have had contact from 5-6 different people over the course of 4 weeks, which averages out to an engagement a week :-). This may not sound like a lot in the online world however this has been achieved through no marketing & has been prior to us linking our social profiles to the site. In addition to the relative progress of our site we’ve individually experienced a weight of our shoulders by making positive strides towards our ambitions.

This might just be a figment of my imagination, although as I make steps in the right direction; by researching for intellectually stimulating content for the site, I have also witness a parallel of positivity within the sphere of societal progress. This has been in the form of a proposed UBI (Unconditional basic income)(More info on our F.B Oct 3.13 posting) within the EU & which is making headway in Switzerland, with a proposed 2, 800 a month per citizen. This would ensure all citizens experience the wonders of life without the stress & anxiety of seeking income for a living, which should really be the ultimate goal of any economy & refreshing in the current state of global austerity.

However on further reflection of the newfound positivity which might be due to the fact that as you become more enlightened & progress you tend to notice more of the positive energy around you due to your own positive energy attracting others, rather than you actually changing you physical surroundings. Either way it clearly illustrates the true merits of making those crucial first steps in the right direction, towards enlightenment.

Creativity is widely regarded as a gifted trait where the creator is solely the source of all inspiration & creation. However on observation it becomes crystal clear that none of us live in an incubation & that the impetus for creativity resides in our cultural surroundings & the technological advancements of the time, that make the expression of creativity possible.

With this in mind I will attempt to transcend the rigid believes of creativity being reserved to a few gifted people by mapping out a journey of creative development, through curating & presenting various creative content, technological tools & mind sets conducive to creativity. In the hope that surrounding myself, & visitors of the site, in creatively rich content will create an environment conducive for enlightenment to flourish. Simultaneously this exercise will result in original creative content for the Enlightend~Allure site.

P.S Feel free to recommend any creative content that would help make our journey together even more fruitful.

You may have noticed how laughter can take various forms; the anxious one right before you start crying, the laughter at another persons stupidity, or a more profound laughter. Laughing at yourself & your cultural practices that are held in such high regards.

Now this is the laughter I’m interested in. The kind of laughter that can erupt a room while unveiling the masks that our cultural institutions hide behind, with the conviction of absolute seriousness :-). This kind of laughter is not only effective in providing the presenter with laughs but also acts as a great tension relief for the audience. I’m sure we’ve all had that moment when we realize we’re not alone in finding this mad circus we call life, a joke.

And that’s exactly what I aim to do here. Be your tour guide to this hilarious circus we call ‘modern day life’ & all the elaborate games it inhabits.